Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, January 31, 2008 Posted by Bob at 01/31/08 11:52 AM

Consumers are getting an awful lot of faulty information about the looming transition to digital broadcasting next February, according to just released survey by Consumers Union, the publisher of this blog.

All told, the survey found that 74 percent of the respondents who said they were aware of the upcoming transition to all digital broadcasting have serious misconceptions about its actual impact on them and what steps they need to take to keep their TVs working after the switchover.

Joel Kelsey of Consumers Union says all those misconceptions and faulty information represent a very serious situation for consumers.

"Confusion about the digital television transition will cost consumers a lot of money for equipment they may not want or need," said Joel Kelsey, policy analyst for Consumers Union, the non profit publisher of Consumer Reports. "Based on these survey results, it is now clear that the government and every media company that profits from people watching television must do whatever it takes to make sure consumers will keep getting broadcast TV without paying a dime more than necessary."

On February 17, 2009, television broadcasters will end "analog" broadcasts and begin sending television signals in a "digital" format. The DTV transition will affect millions of consumers who use analog television sets to view free over-the-air programming. Analog televisions will either need to be connected to a digital converter box, attached to cable or satellite service or replaced with a digital TV by February 17, 2009.

About 15 percent of Americans live in households that rely exclusively on over-the-air programming. If these consumers do not take some action before February 2009 – such as buying a converter box – over three quarters (78%) will have no televisions capable of receiving over-the-air broadcasting. That is 11 percent of Americans adults, or approximately 23 million people, who would be unable to watch TV.

Among the survey’s other findings:

• Over one-third (36%) of Americans living in households with TVs are entirely unaware of the government-mandated transition to digital broadcasting slated for February 2009.

• Among those consumers who are aware of the transition, over half (58%) believe all TVs will need a digital converter box to function, 48 percent believe that only digital televisions will work after 2009 and nearly one quarter (24%) believe they will need to throw away all of their analog television sets; none of which is true.

• One-third (33%) of consumers completely unaffected by the transition plan to buy a converter box and 31 percent plan to purchase a new digital television set with a built in digital tuner.

• Although purchasing a converter box is by far the most popular action planned by those aware of the transition, a staggering 73 percent are unaware of the government coupon program created to offset the cost of purchasing one of these boxes.

Among paid television subscribers using analog TVs to receive their services:

• 40 percent of paid television subscribers would have no working televisions if they choose to cancel their subscription, or if there is a service disruption;

• 6 percent of paid television subscribers have at least one analog TV on which they currently watch over-the-air programming;

• 46 percent of paid television subscribers indicated they would be concerned if they were not able to receive an over-the-air signal in an emergency service outage.

We have set up special web page to provide consumers with the accurate, unbiased information they need to navigate the digital TV transition, which you can view by clicking here.

The DTV transition web page includes detailed brochures that can be printed out, as well as a five-minute, how-to video.

Click here to see the full survey.

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Verizon Wireless Facing Huge Lawsuit on Early Termination Penalties

A New York arbitrator has quietly certified a huge class action lawsuit against Verizon Wireless over its charging of early termination penalties that could end up costing the country's second-largest wireless carrier $1 billion or more.

This class action case has been moving slowly through the system for more than four years, but that is likely to change now that the class, which potentially includes 70 million Verizon customers who have been affected by the company's $175 early termination penalties, has been certified. The case is expected to go to trial by late 2008.

RCRNews broke the story this past Monday. Click here to read the article.

For some reason, none of the mainstream media has picked up on this story yet, but we suspect they will soon.

One thing we are curious about is how the court will look at so-called "family plans," which can include several lines. Verizon and other carriers have traditionally charged a separate termination fee on each line, meaning that a family with four lines had to pay $700 to get out of its Verizon contract.

Given the size and scope of this case, we suspect you will be hearing a lot more about it in the coming months.

comments (5)

1 Posted by sidney berger at 01/31/08 01:02 PM

many tghanx. this house has Dichtv which i understand will not be affected. true?

2 Posted by Mrs. Phyllis A. Poppalardo at 01/31/08 01:04 PM

I am sick and tired of having everyone shove stuff down my throat, and making me pay more for the things that they force on me. When will the CEO's stop making so much money, on the middleclass. We the elders are taking a beating, and the Government does nothing to help us. We will have everything we worked for, taken away from us.

3 Posted by Florence Portell at 01/31/08 02:24 PM

The reason the media hasn't reported on The Verizon law suit is because they are going nuts on the predidential campaign and aren't able to report on anything else. They are truly not able to handle their job of reporting instead of trying to lead us to their way of thinking.

4 Posted by Donald Hochberg at 02/01/08 09:44 AM

I think that a big company like Verizon,has terrible cunsumer relations that need to upgraded.they give you nothing on there 1-or2 year upgrade program.I asked how much i can get to up grade my phone and was told since i am not the primary on our family plan,i won' get anything.I think an early termination fee should be no more than $25.00 and DEATH should be nothing.
Thanks,
Don

5 Posted by A Mione at 02/08/08 03:11 PM

I have a battery powered mini-TV for use during hurricane blackouts. Will there be available a battery-powered converter for use during such emergencies?